According to official statistics, the number of working days lost to strikes in October hit its highest level in more than a decade.
In October 2022, around 417,000 working days were lost due to labor disputes, the largest number since November 2011.
The United Kingdom has been plagued by major industrial action this year, as workers protest salary and working conditions.
Tuesday will mark the beginning of another round of strikes by rail workers.
Since the summer, the RMT, the largest rail union in the United Kingdom, has held a series of strikes that have shut down much of the train network in England, Scotland, and Wales and threaten to impact companies in the lead-up to Christmas.
Workers in a variety of different industries, including bus drivers, Royal Mail employees, nurses, traffic workers, and baggage handlers, have all gone on strike this week.
Sam Beckett, chief of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics, stated that transport and storage, as well as information and communications, had been severely damaged by strike action.
She told, “This is mostly due to the rail and mail strikes.”
CWU-affiliated Royal Mail employees will engage in additional strike action on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. There will be additional walkouts on Christmas Eve.
Ms. Beckett stated that it is now difficult to determine how industrial action has harmed the economy as a whole.
We have not yet observed the effect of that on our GDP data. “It is too soon to predict how it will impact the economy as a whole,” she said.
According to ONS data, the disparity between public and private sector pay increases remained significant.
Between August and October, private sector salary growth averaged 6.9% compared to 2.7% in the public sector.
Compared to the period between July and September, when average public sector pay increased by 2.2% and private sector pay increased by 6.6%, there has been a minor narrowing of the disparity.
However, the ONS stated, “This is the highest private sector growth rate we’ve ever observed and one of the widest gaps between the private sector and public sector growth rates we’ve ever seen.”
Both, though, remain well below the inflation rate, which is at its highest level in more than four decades.
The ONS reported that regular pay increased by 6.1% in the three months leading up to October. However, when inflation is considered, wages declined by 2.7%.
The unemployment rate rose to 3.7% overall. The number of job openings decreased by 65,000 from September to November, marking the fifth consecutive decline for this metric.
Ms. Beckett stated that the reduction was a signal that the labor market “may be beginning to deteriorate” and that some companies “were beginning to pull some of their vacancies because they are curtailing activity.”
Despite the decline, the ONS reported that employment openings remained around historically high levels, with roughly 1.2 million positions available.
There was also a reduction in the number of economically inactive individuals or those who are unemployed and have not actively sought a job in the preceding four weeks. The greatest decline occurred among people aged 50 to 64.
There is “evidence” that some retirees are returning to the workforce, according to Jack Kennedy, a British economist with the staffing firm Indeed.
“This could be an early indicator of cost-of-living constraints causing some individuals to reconsider their plans,” he said.
Mr. Kennedy stated that all together, inactivity remains more than 560,000 higher than pre-pandemic levels and continues to fuel recruitment challenges in a variety of industries.
Jarrod Ayling, the chief executive officer of Purple Jay Nurseries in south-east London, stated that despite increasing compensation by a total of 16%, he is still having difficulty hiring employees.
It’s really difficult to get personnel at the present because the early year’s workforce has shrunk as a result of Brexit and Covid,” he added. “Increasing the salary has raised the number of applicants, but it’s still small.”
Mr. Ayling also stated that he increased salaries because the staff is trying to make ends meet, with some requesting cash loans.
Kai Clarke, who works at the Lambeth location of Purple Jay Nurseries, expressed gratitude for the 16% raise, but added, “Now it’s as if we’ve reached parity since both the wage and the bills have increased.”
“I’d say that I’m thrilled and grateful, but my excitement has waned because I’ve realized that it’s all going to pay the bills. Even simple items such as juice, milk, and butter have increased in price.
Mr. Ayling stated that increasing pay would have a “huge impact on my expenses, but I believe it is necessary due to the supply and demand imbalance.”
